In hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) processes, one or more precursor gases are thermally decomposed at a high temperature within a process chamber proximate a substrate upon which a desired material is to be deposited. The thermal decomposition reaction is facilitated within the process chamber by one or more wires, or filaments, supported in the process chamber that may be heated to a desired temperature, for example, by passing electrical current through the filaments.
Conventional HWCVD processes used to deposit materials for optical applications, for example such as silicon (Si) based opto-electronic grade films, often produces films having poor optical properties (e.g. a low visible energy range absorption co-efficient).
Therefore, the inventors have provided an improved method of depositing materials atop a substrate using HWCVD.